Naval units
Unlike the land army, naval units are extremely costly to maintain. One destroyer is roughly worth 3 normal French light tanks, and so you should be careful about what units you build for the navy, as many of these units are hard to build. Naval unit roster Anchorage *Pos 1: Cruiser, destroyer, submarine I, motorboat, trawler Naval yard *Pos 1: Cap ship, Battleship, Battle cruiser, Carrier, Submarine II Population cost (mainstream) *Trawler, light ship class, destroyer, submarine - 1 *Cruiser, battle cruiser, capital ship - 2 *Carrier, super capital ship - 4 *Total number of units - 27 Mainstream units These units are available from a wharf. In addition, a wharf is required in order to be able to allow land units to be transported via water. Motorboat *Cheapest unit. *Has low defence against low-level naval units, but high defence against large enmy ships such as Battle Cruisers, Battleships and Super Battleships. *Can be used to attack submarines but isn't that powerful. Destroyer *Industrial Age vanilla skin. *Kills submarines, and has medium-level armament and armour, and has good LOS. *Deals minimal damage against air targets *Best used to mass naval power *Fairly cheap Cruiser *Industrial Age vanilla dreadnought *Somewhat poor speed, but excellent armour and armaments. *Ideal for gaining early game naval supremacy and shelling enemy fortifications although it performs poorly against motorboats. *Capable of engaging air, but is rather weak *Subceptible to submarine attack *Costly Trawler *capable of gathering fish from the ocean. Broadly put, use destroyers for their anti-air, anti-submarine capabilities, and the costlier but more powerful cruiser against surface naval targets. Restricted units These units may be built from a naval yard, which can be built only in cities or major cities. Battleship *Consumes the cruiser *Is the hardest-hitting conventional surface vessel unless capital ships are considered *Battleships are buildable only to the 7 major powers. Battle cruiser *Available only to the powers - see major powers and minor powers for more info. *Modern Age vanilla skin *Has more firepower than the destroyer, but is meant for fast hit-and-run flanking attacks, and not battles against battle cruisers. *Most useful against air targets, limited anti-submarine caspaibility (cost means it's just too much) *Somewhat cheap Battle cruisers are a more destructive version of a destroyer, and are also capable of high speed and anti-aircraft support. Use these units to counter the cheaper but weaker destroyers and cruisers Air carrier *Costly, slow unit, vulnerable to submarines, but has a powerful complement of torpedo bombers. *The number of torpedo bombers is increased for different factions (along with the addition of special units) to maintain balance *Carriers can be built by all major powers except Russia. Submarine Light, slow and fragile, submarines have a devastating attack against heavy ships, and are cloaked when not moving. Much later, however, they can be upgraded to become true submersibles. *Stealthy bane of heavy ships, but subceptible to destroyers and cruisers. *Costly, and available only to major powers such as France or Germany. *Of all the minor powers, only the Oslo Group or the Dutch Empire may build submarines. *Submarines have enough payload to destroy civvy shipping, and suffer almost no damage from capital ships! Capital ship Capital ships are the biggest floating weapons around, and come in different sizes and shapes, and are available only to the 7 major powers. Capital ships are not only powerful, but they have different capabilities - that comes with a handicap. For instance, the Iowa-class battleship is the fastest-sailing, fastest-producing and cheapest capital ship, but clearly is outmatched by other capital ships such as the Bismarck-class battleship, in terms of firepower and armour. Capital ships are so big that (wht the possible exception of British and Russian capital ships) they canot be garrisoned in dockyards. NOTE: Germany and Japan receive 2 different capital ships, instead of 1. Capital ships have hit penalties against small craft, but can be used to take out destroyers and large targets. Most Tier 1 Battleships require only Stainless Steel from your Foundry, but the Tier 2 Battleships of Japan and Germany require both Shell Process and Replaceable Parts; for the Italian and French battleship programmes, however, only Mechanisation (Level 2 Trunk tech) and Logistics are required. See the following list for more details: Unique units KNIL Note: unlike other factions, the KNIL do not have the capital ship or the aircraft carrier. Battle Cruiser Java-class light cruiser - Weakest but fastest-moving, fastest-hitting and cheaper than normal battle cruisers Special *''Brinio'' - light attack craft, meant to out-tech the other swift boat factions (Italy, USA and Germany), but must be upgraded later on to .... *''Flores'' - has better rate of fire, range and accuracy, making it ideal for offshore bombardment. Empire of Japan Capital ships *''Kongo''-class battleship - has weaker armour, slower speed but good guns. The only difference between Kongo and other ships is that she comes out earlier than other warships. *''Shimakaze''-class destroyer - substantially faster but costlier destroyer. *''Yamato''-class super battleship - immensely huge, powerful warship, comparable with the Bismarck class. But with poor speed, a construction penalty and a high pricetag to boot. Note-like all warships, Yamato is not an upgrade, but still requires some technologies to be built. Submarines *I-boat - large submarine capable of carrying aircraft. Not as powerful as an air carrier, but capable of all sorts of mayhem (relies on Rise of Options) British Commonwealth As a general rule, British ships are served by 3 main advantages: they have good range, excellent LOS, and the ability to regenerate after a battle. This ability is enhanced compared with tanks and infantry on land. Aircraft carriers *''Ark Royal'' - in addition to having good LOS and a variety of good torpedo bombers, Ark Royal has an enhanced regeneration capability and a slight speed bonus. Battle cruisers *''Town''-class cruiser - average power and durability, compared to the Aviso-type ships of France and Portugal, but can easily shoot them from afar. Capital ships *''KGV''-class battleship - average power and durability, but with good LOS, and can easily shoot from afar. Several Nelsons can take on a Bismarck, but might have problems with the bigger Yamato. You must have some ancillary research completed to unlock this ship. Germany Capital ships *''Bismarck''-class battleship - strong, immensely powerful, but one of the slowest to move - yet the slowest to die nonetheless in a heated exchange. Note-''Bismarck'' requires some technologies to be built. Submarines *U-boat - Replaces submarine, and is highly advanced, with a variety of tricks, such as better speed and weapon range than other submarines. Special *S-boat - unlike other warships, this is a weak, but cheap-producing gunboat, capable of taking out submarine and surface targets, and very effective at taking out air. Unlike other warships, the S-boat is known for being built of both timber and oil. USSR Capital ships *''Soyuz''-class battleship - Average-performance battleship, with a cheap pricetag, but hidden high ramp costs in metal, and a long gestation period. To create many capital ships, Russia must build as many naval facilities as it can. A player will then be forced to decide what sort of military force it needs, because its navy requires high micromanaging. Battle Cruisers *''Kirov''-class heavy cruiser - as with the Soyuz battleship, the Kirov also can be created in huge numbers initially, before it is slowed by its ramp cost in metal. slightly slower to build, but not as indefatigably difficult to build as the Soyuz. Kingdom of Italy Capital ships *''Littorio''-class battleship - average hull strength and weak range, but highly powerful main guns and engine. Unlike many other capital ships, Littorio doesn't need any auxiliary technologies to be created. Special *MAS Squad - a trio of cheap but weak fast attack boats, deals added damage against submarines and cruisers, but takes added damage from aircraft, can be upgraded to S-Boats later on if Fascism was chosen. France Capital ships *''Richelieu''-class battleship - Better than the Vittorio Veneto class but with a higher cost, and some ancillary research required. Aircraft carriers *''Béarn'' class - early aircraft carrier, is cheap to build but of inferior quality. *''Joffré'' class - cheap to build but is pretty "normal". Special Aviso (shared with Portugal): a cross between a destroyer and a motorboat. Although cheap, easily destroyed in combat, and not as effective as a destroyer. United States of America Capital ships *''Iowa''-class battleship - Average-strength battleship. Capable of outranging warships like the Vittorio Veneto class, but still fragile against other ships, especially such as Bismarck-class or Yamato-class warships. It however is distinguished from other factions by having a lower pop cost, and a fast build time. Theoretically, the USA can churn out quite a number of these warships. Cruiser *''Baltimore''-class cruiser - Replaces cruiser, battle cruiser, and destroyer. Has the best stats of each and every one. Aircraft carriers *'Yorktown''-class - the best carrier in the whole game, with a good operational range.'' Special *PT boat: cheap and fast unit, vulnerable to aircraft but has an attack bonus against all land units. Brazil Cruiser *''Minas Gerais''-class dreadnought - can be replaced by battleships later on. It's costly, but packs a far more powerful punch than other cruiser-class units in existence. Note that Brazil cannot build cruisers or battleships without Hierarchy researched. Category:Naval